Helping with Training / Serenity's Abnormality ...

But Akame herself had chosen to ask Koizumi, which meant she truly did not know whether they had met before.

Still... Akame was very curious about why she cared so much about Koizumi standing before her.

If she did not know him, then why would she care about him so much? That was what Akame thought.

Therefore, Akame felt that she needed to seriously ask Koizumi this question, or she would not be able to sleep.

Koizumi was slightly taken aback. His eyes fixed on Akame before him, filled with confusion.

Why would Akame ask that question... Come to think of it, Leone seemed to have said something similar to Akame before.

So, Akame, you really do know this guy?

But Akame had directly answered Leone's words back then.

I don't know him... This is the first time I've met him.

Then why was Akame asking such a question now?

With doubts in his heart, Koizumi slowly answered Akame.

"We are meeting for the first time. I can be certain of that..."

He truly could be certain. After all, this was Koizumi's first time coming to this Singularity. If it had been a familiar Singularity, then without a doubt, he would have known every place here, as well as things like Teigu. Yet this was the first time he had ever heard terms such as Teigu, the Empire, and the Revolutionary Army.

That was why Koizumi could be certain that this was his first time coming to this Singularity.

The only familiar things were people, while everything else was completely unfamiliar... Koizumi also found that strange, but without a doubt, this was his first time in this Singularity.

"I see..." Akame sounded rather downcast, as if she had suffered a great disappointment.

But after lightly shaking her head, Akame seemed to put everything aside and slowly stepped forward.

She slowly extended her delicate right hand and revealed a faint smile, expressing her goodwill.

"That was just an introduction before. Now, welcome to the group. I'm Akame. If you need help, you can come to me or anyone else in Night Raid at any time. Everyone is very friendly toward newcomers."

Night Raid was practically like a family. No matter who joined, they became family to everyone else. That was why Akame said those words.

Though he was somewhat stunned, Koizumi quickly recovered, and waves of warmth rose in his heart.

Perhaps this was what having a family felt like... It was only a single sentence, yet Koizumi still felt warmth in his heart.

"I understand. If possible, you can also come to me, Reimu, or Hata no Kokoro whenever you need help."

Koizumi did not like owing favors. That was part of the reason, but more than that, he had been influenced by Night Raid's atmosphere.

Helping with Training

"..." Koizumi stood before Serenity Hassan and Hundred Personas Hassan, unsure what to say.

He had actually come to ask Serenity Hassan and Hundred Personas Hassan for help, hoping they could train him.

Hundred Personas Hassan and Serenity Hassan were both leaders of the Assassin Order, merely from different generations. That was why Koizumi hoped to receive their training, so he would have some way to deal with Assassins in the future.

But for some reason, once he stood before them, Koizumi no longer knew what to say.

He should have just spoken up and asked directly, yet Koizumi suddenly did not know what to say.

"May I ask what you need from us?" Serenity watched Koizumi with her eyes, excitement faintly present in her voice.

Perhaps Hundred Personas had not noticed it, but Koizumi, who could sense the emotions in others' hearts, had noticed.

Come to think of it, ever since he had ignored her deadly poison, Serenity's attitude toward him had become especially strange.

But why had her attitude toward him become so unusual just because he had ignored her poison?

Koizumi truly could not understand that, but now was not the time to think about it, so...

"It's like this. Could you help train me?" A look of deep sincerity appeared on Koizumi's face.

Although Hundred Personas Hassan and Serenity Hassan had once been his enemies, there was no doubt that both of them were easy to get along with.

Their assassination skills were extremely impressive. At the very least, Koizumi had nearly died at Serenity's hands once due to carelessness.

So if possible, Koizumi hoped to train with Hundred Personas Hassan and Serenity Hassan. That would also improve his strength. As for why he was not asking the others in Night Raid, it was because compared to assassination, they were stronger in direct combat. Their ability in assassination was still somewhat weaker than their ability to fight head-on.

Seriously, what idiot had assigned a group of people with general-level strength and potential to be assassins?! They would clearly be far more useful on the battlefield than working as killers in Night Raid!

Koizumi simply could not understand the Revolutionary Army leader's thinking. Such powerful fighters as Akame and Bulat were actually sent to become assassins. Bulat in particular was said to have the title of Hundred-Man Slayer and had even been a general of the Empire.

He had been a general in the Empire, yet after joining the Revolutionary Army, he became an assassin. That was not how career changes worked.

Or did they think that a vast Empire could be overthrown by a group of assassins? If so, the Empire could not possibly have lasted this long. After all, besides the Empire and the Revolutionary Army, this world also had foreign tribes and other nations!

That was why Koizumi felt the Revolutionary Army leader had been kicked in the head by a donkey.

"Training?" Hundred Personas Hassan was slightly stunned. Koizumi was stronger than Serenity and her, yet he wanted the two of them to train him?

But who said someone stronger could not ask someone weaker to train them? Everyone had different specialties!

Serenity was also slightly stunned, but excitement quickly followed, and intense delight flashed through her eyes.

As for why she was so delighted, that could only be explained later. Training was what mattered most right now.

"No one has ever said that the weak are unqualified to teach the strong. A person's combat power can be displayed differently depending on the situation. When it comes to assassination, you are stronger than me, just like when Serenity ambushed me before."

Koizumi swept his gaze over Hundred Personas and Serenity, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Also, as Servants who were summoned here, you should have many questions for me, the Master who suddenly appeared in this world, right? I seem to be the only Master in this world. Don't you have any doubts?"

Hundred Personas and Serenity immediately fell silent. Indeed, they did not deny that they had many doubts about Koizumi.

Why had a Master appeared in a place that had not had a single Master before? They had no idea.

Thus, Hundred Personas and Serenity had always been looking for a chance to question Koizumi, but they had never had the opportunity.

Now Koizumi had come to them himself and asked whether they could help train him. He had even said they could use the opportunity to ask questions about him. If they did not ask now, they might not get another chance later.

Hundred Personas and Serenity exchanged glances, then could not help nodding. Indeed, this was an opportunity.

After all, they would be part of the same organization from now on. If they could not unite because of lingering doubts, it would become troublesome.

Both Hundred Personas and Serenity were leaders of the Assassin Order, so they understood very well how to deal with hidden dangers within an organization.

"If that is the case, then please guide us. We also hope you can clear up the doubts in our hearts."

Serenity lowered herself greatly, making Koizumi even more puzzled. Serenity's attitude was indeed strange.

Even respect for a strong person did not need to be this excessive. Her attitude went a little too far.

At least, Koizumi felt that there was something off about Serenity's attitude. It seemed he would need to pay closer attention.

But training was more important right now. He should settle the matter of training first.

After all, he needed some means of dealing with Assassins. Without the ability to respond to them, it really would be...

He did not want there to be a second chance of carelessly getting himself killed. The more methods he had against Assassins, the better.

Koizumi occupied all of the following time with training. There had been no missions recently anyway, so it was not a bad use of his time.

During that time, Koizumi also became more familiar with Serenity and Hundred Personas. After all, they were all part of the same organization.

Simply knowing one another through words was far from enough. They needed time together to build coordination and understand each other's personalities. After all, knowing someone only through what others said was merely indirect understanding.

It had to be admitted that Hundred Personas and Serenity coordinated exceptionally well. As expected of two Hassan-i Sabbahs.

They belonged to the same order. Though they had not served as leaders in the same era, they understood one another's abilities extremely well.

Once they knew each other's abilities, they knew what the other excelled at and could coordinate accordingly.

Koizumi, Reimu, and Hata no Kokoro could do the same, but compared to Hundred Personas and Serenity, the coordination among the three of them was not as strong. Their specialties were very similar, and they had not spent that much time together, so their tacit understanding had yet to fully develop.

If they wanted to surpass those two, they would probably need to put in a little more effort.

Serenity's Abnormality

"What a pain... As expected of an Assassin!"

Koizumi moved at extraordinary speed, flying low through the air and dodging one dagger after another.

Hundred Personas and Serenity did not hold back at all, because Koizumi would not be killed by their poison.

Due to Presence Concealment, the Assassins' presences flickered in and out. Koizumi could sense where they were at the instant they attacked, but once the attack ended, their presences vanished again, as if their killing intent only existed for a moment.

Koizumi found this extremely irritating, especially when dealing with Hundred Personas Hassan.

Serenity's methods were very simple, mainly daggers and the deadly poison on her body. But when her poison was useless, Serenity was basically finished. Poison was both her strongest weapon and her only weapon.

Once that sole weapon failed, Serenity had no killing power against her enemies at all.

Hundred Personas was different. Hundred Personas Hassan possessed thirty-two specialized abilities, including techniques, tactics, academics, concealment, assassination, deception, language, and more. Every clone possessed the same abilities, making her extraordinarily troublesome.

Hundred Personas was never afraid of ganging up on someone... Then she could use that to conceal Serenity and have her launch sneak attacks from the shadows.

That was exactly how Koizumi had fallen for their tactics before. He had clearly noticed Serenity, yet he had still lost.

At that moment, Koizumi held Gungnir in his hand. A pair of crimson wings appeared behind him as he flew low through the air.

The magical energy attached to the daggers was not particularly powerful. Koizumi only needed to shift slightly to avoid them. He could even use the magical energy in his body to disturb the airflow around him, causing the daggers' trajectories to veer away.

Therefore, as long as he made a few minor adjustments, there would be no problem at all. Koizumi was not afraid of any of this.

It was just that the various tactics used by Hundred Personas had made Koizumi suffer greatly. Serenity, on the other hand, was not much of a problem.

Even so, Koizumi continued having Hundred Personas and Serenity train with him. What he wanted was the ability to easily overcome all kinds of tactics. Only by using corresponding tactics to break through his opponent's tactics could he become a qualified warrior. Then Reimu and the others would no longer need to worry about him.

Koizumi wanted to be able to partner with any Servant without dragging anyone down. He even wanted to shoulder the strength of more people and become one of the main forces resolving Singularities. Who said a Master could not rival a Servant?

Koizumi believed that as he continued summoning more Servants, the power hidden within his body would grow stronger and stronger.

Moreover, he had already vaguely grasped Yukari's power, though he still could not use it.

After all, Yukari's power was too profound and unpredictable. Koizumi simply could not use it and could not even find the principle behind mastering it.

If Koizumi had already mastered Yukari's power, then he would not need to worry about any accidents happening.

While Yukari's power was profound and mysterious, the ability of gaps was extremely useful. With sufficient power, he could use a gap to see the entire world. What intelligence would he need then? He could simply spy on anywhere that seemed suspicious.

What... spying was immoral... a low trick? Could someone with the ability to spy really call it a low trick when they spied? This was clearly the proper use of his own ability. Calling it immoral or underhanded was nothing more than the groaning of the weak.

Still, Koizumi had only mastered a limited amount of power so far. He had not even mastered one-tenth of Hata no Kokoro and Reimu's powers. He had not mastered all of Remilia's power either, only part of it. He had probably reached half.

Hundred Personas and Serenity trained Koizumi until nightfall, and they did not even eat dinner. Reimu and Hata no Kokoro, meanwhile, had some free time. The former made charms from time to time and rested whenever she did not feel like making them. The latter made masks and sold them to Najenda and the others. Seeing how earnestly Hata no Kokoro worked, Najenda and the others found it hard to refuse her outright.

After all, Hata no Kokoro was truly adorable like that. Most people would find it difficult to refuse her.

Hata no Kokoro sold quite a few masks in Night Raid. Mine and the others hung the Noh Masks on their walls. Though they apparently had no intention of wearing them, Mine and the others did not refuse Hata no Kokoro. It was clear that they all regarded her as one of their own.

Night Raid truly had the feeling of a family. Even Koizumi could not help feeling a wave of warmth.

After Koizumi, Hundred Personas, and Serenity finished training and returned to the kitchen, the food for Koizumi and the others was still warm.

It was the first time such a large group had sat together in the kitchen and eaten. Even so, Koizumi felt an intense warmth.

After all, Koizumi had never properly shared a meal with so many people before.

And Susanoo's cooking really was delicious. Come to think of it, a Teigu was actually being used for everyday life... Why was a Teigu so good at cooking? He was completely stealing a chef's job!

Koizumi was speechless about that as well... He was completely taking away people's livelihoods.

But Koizumi was also someone who ate, so people who ate should not nitpick over those who cooked. After all, he was eating very well. Since Susanoo cooked so well, there was no need for him to keep fussing over it.

Silently, Koizumi sat on the ground, looking rather bored. Though it was already late, he did not intend to sleep yet. He had always gone to bed late anyway, so staying up a little longer did not matter.

Before he realized it, a figure had appeared behind Koizumi.

Koizumi seemed to sense her arrival, and his gaze swiftly turned toward her—Serenity Hassan.

During today's training, Hundred Personas Hassan had asked him many questions, such as who he was and what his purpose was. Yet Serenity had not asked a single thing, making Koizumi even more confused.

Why had Serenity remained silent the entire time, merely watching him... Was he that handsome?

All right, Koizumi was being a little narcissistic...

Koizumi had not answered Hundred Personas's questions directly. He had only explained what he could, and he did not reveal anything about Chaldea.

Koizumi only explained that there was a problem with this Singularity and that they had been summoned to resolve this distortion.

Because clearly, they did not know why they had been summoned.

After arriving at Night Raid, Reimu had told him that this world possessed a Counter Force. In order to resolve distortions, the Counter Force would summon Servants to handle them. These neutral Servants were essentially his support.

Reimu understood this because she was the administrator of Gensokyo and knew about the Counter Force.

Serenity's Redemption